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general questions for best results

M

marc_g

New member
I'm looking to breed my snakes next year. A friend of mine said do I have to hibernate the snakes and it made me think about what I may have to do.So if I could ask some questions just so I know what to do to get a good healthy batch of eggs.

Firstly what month do you start putting the snakes in to hibernation. Also how do you go about doing this. What changes have to be made to help the snake over this period of time. Do you fatten them up to last the few months.

Secondly what month do you bring them out of hibernation. Do you just have to turn the tank up and feed them to get their energy up again.

Thirdly what months are the breeding season. my female produced 11 eggs at a about 20months of age back in April. however this was with out the male. There fore the eggs were infertile. I got told that that was a good sign that she was producing without the male present, also because she was only about 2 foot. Apparently she will be a good breeding female. at the moment she's sizing in at about 3 foot. My male is in the same tank as her now as I thought they may be big enough to go together.

If some one could give me some advice on this as i am really interested in learning more about my 2 to get the best result i can thanks
 
First of all, reptiles brumate not hibernate.

Based on my readings, people usually feed normally for males, maybe a little extra for females, before brumation. Then they stop feeding late fall/early winter, wait about 1 month to make sure the snake has pooped out the last meal completely, then cool them. During the cooling period, the snakes are not comatose & may need water, so water bowls still need to be checked. The cooled period seems to be variable, from 4-8 weeks. Then the snakes are warmed up (I'm not clear on whether you just return them to normal heating conditions or gradually turn the temp back up to normal). Once they are fully warmed up, they can start eating again.

Again, from my reading, Diamondlil cooled her snakes early & introduced them early this year. A lot of people seemed to have been introducing mating pairs to one another in February, March & April, because they have been hatching eggs lately. Laying slugs in April is in the time frame of normal egg laying, I think.

But I would get your male OUT of your female's enclosure NOW. She isn't really ready to lay a fertile clutch, but he might still breed her whether she likes it or not, and that could be very dangerous or even fatal. Females who are too small are at more risk for egg-binding, where they can't lay the eggs, the eggs are stuck inside. Bad bad bad.

Cornsnakes should not be in the same enclosure unless they are
1) adults having sex
2) babies that just hatched before their first shed
So get them separated ASAP.

Get Kathy Love's book, available at her website -- there is a ton of useful information on breeding in it from one of the genuine experts on cornsnake breeding & care. Or get Don Soderberg's book, also available at his website, again, written by a genuine expert on cornsnake breeding & care. Either or both can get you on track to be a successful breeder.
 
Firstly, you don't need to brumate to breed. I've bred successfully for years without.

If you leave the male in with the female, then they'll breed whether you want them to or not. Separating them is the best policy, then put them back together just for mating in around February/March as long as the female is in good condition.

However my most important advice is to look around now - the height of hatchling sales season - to see what's selling in your area. You don't want to be producing Corns that nobody wants to buy and you need to make sure you have a realistic price in mind for yours. You don't want to be stuck with an extra 10-15 snakes to feed indefinitely and the market for Corn Snakes has been pretty slow for the last 18 months or so.
 
but if the snakes do brumate is it healthy for them i wanna do everything i can do give them the best chance of being healthy
 
My 22 year old has never brumated in his life and seems to be doing well on it.

I've never yet brumated a Corn Snake and I've not noticed any health issues that I can attribute to that factor.
 
Mark, in the wild cornsnakes brumate because the weather gets too cool for them to be out & about. I suspect that in the southernmost portion of their wild range, they DON'T brumate every winter. So probably both are normal & healthy. I would try to get someone local who knows cornsnakes to help you tell how healthy your snakes are.
 
Umm. Sorry to interupt this thread. But I have just a quick noob question.
What is the purpous of brumation? What does the snake acomplish by being cooled?
 
What is the purpous of brumation? What does the snake acomplish by being cooled?
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In the wild, their food source dries up - basically there's nothing much for them to eat as small mammals & reptiles don't breed during the autumn/winter. If they expend energy hunting in the cooler weather, then they'll probably get no return for that outlay which would ultimately kill them. It makes sense for them to become much less active and be evolved to go without food for months.

In captivity, brumation isn't necessary. We keep temperatures steady throughout the year and we guarantee a reliable food supply at all times.

However, brumation in captivity does have advantages for us humans when we breed. We can choose when to "wake" the snakes, making mating and therefore egglaying and hatching dates more predictable. Also, brumation is said to improve fertility (although I've not had an issue going without). In addition, if you're a commercial breeder with a warehouse full of snakes, then brumating can give you a few precious weeks of lower housekeeping activity before the madness of mating/egglaying/hatching starts all over again!
 
OK well here a little question. I live in England. so as u all now our weather is absolutely s**t so where in the winter the temp is at the highest about 5 degrees c. should i just keep checking the vivs temp or should I consider put them into brumation
 
That probably depends on your budget. If you have central heat (I know not every building in England does) & can afford to run it to keep the cool sides warm enough, you can go either way. If your place is cold, I'd brumate.
 
I live in England. so as u all now our weather is absolutely s**t so where in the winter the temp is at the highest about 5 degrees c. should i just keep checking the vivs temp or should I consider put them into brumation
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Unless you're keeping them in the garden, the temp inside your home will be a lot higher than 5 degrees.

If the heating in the viv is working, then with a heat mat + thermostat, the floor at the warm end of the tank should stay at the same temp all year round, regardless of the weather outside or central heating being on/off. The stat will just switch the mat on more often and keep it on for longer, in order to maintain the temp. Basically as long as the Corn has a warm area of the correct temp (mid-high 80s) all year round, then there's no need to brumate.

I'm in the UK, I only had my central heating on for about 3 months last winter and my snakes live and breed in my lounge without brumating.
 
wstphal said:
Again, from my reading, Diamondlil cooled her snakes early & introduced them early this year. A lot of people seemed to have been introducing mating pairs to one another in February, March & April, because they have been hatching eggs lately. Laying slugs in April is in the time frame of normal egg laying, I think.

Get Kathy Love's book, available at her website -- there is a ton of useful information on breeding in it from one of the genuine experts on cornsnake breeding & care. Or get Don Soderberg's book, also available at his website, again, written by a genuine expert on cornsnake breeding & care. Either or both can get you on track to be a successful breeder.
Click to expand...
@ Betsy, I did pair up my snakes early, but I don't brumate because I've got nowhere cool enough to do so, I feed a reduced regime over the winter though and increase the length of time between meals for my adults as I don't want sausage snakes too fat to be healthy!
I paired up earlier this year (in January) and separated the pairs whether I was sure they had mated or not, I did witness mating in Feb and separated them all in March. I did this because I knew I'd be going away on a riding holiday in Sept and needed all the eggs hatched and hatchlings established before going away. It worked out pretty well, with 6/5 females laying decent clutches. The last female either reabsorbed or was never gravid.
 
I do not brumate. Had an accidental pair up in April, got eggs in May, they hatched in July. Got 11 eggs, 1 went bad and one died in a freak storm. Corns are the absolute easiest animals to breed in my experience. Just wait til spring and put them together on a rainy night. I hear rain helps them get in the mood lol!
 
My misunderstanding, Janine. I knew you had paired them early & thought you had brumated early as well. Thanks for clearing that up.

Oh, Kathy, I misted mine with warm water which did seem to help set the right mood.
 
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